Welcome

Welcome to my official City Council website! Change. It is a word used often in campaign slogans and speeches. After having served on the City Council for over one year now, I have learned that change – real change – is possible and is happening every day here in Hoboken. But it does not happen overnight. In our ongoing efforts to change business as usual in Hoboken, Mayor Dawn Zimmer and the City Council have been working together to bring residents a variety of services and other reforms that show that change is finally working here in Hoboken. Many of these accomplishments are highlighted at various portions of this website.

Fiscal Responsibility

One of biggest successes of Hoboken in the last year has been Mayor Zimmer and the City Council’s progress in restoring fiscal responsibility at City Hall. In the past, recurring expenses would exceed annual revenues, creating structural deficits and requiring one-shot revenue sources and other gimmicks to hide deficits and maintain an artificially low tax levy.

Responsible Development

One of my biggest priorities as a Councilman is ensuring that within our mile square city we make the best use of scarce space, preserve and acquire additional open space for parks and recreation, and ensure that any further development is conducted in a manner that prioritizes the interests of residents and not the bottom line of developers.

Transparency In Government

Hoboken residents have no way of knowing, without significant time and expense, exactly how their tax dollars are spent and how spending decisions are made. An open government should be an inclusive government that brings the citizens into the decision making processes that affect themselves and other Hobokenites.

Hoboken City Council News

Check back often for all the latest news from City Hall. It's important for Hoboken residents to know what we're doing for them.

05/19/2010

Hoboken City Council OKs ordinance reverting budget schedule to calendar year

Hoboken City Council voted 5-3 on Wednesday night on an ordinance authorizing the reversion from a state fiscal year to a calendar year. Council members Theresa Castellano, Beth Mason and Michael Russo were in opposition. The switch to a calendar year would provide the city with a one-shot...more

05/17/2010

Gov. Christie Lays Out Plans In Hoboken Town Hall Meeting

Governor Chris Christie addressed roughly 100 people in his first in a series of Town Hall meetings Monday morning, when he visited Hoboken Catholic Academy to address his proposal to introduce a constitutional 2.5 percent cap on property tax increases. Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, a self-describ...more

02/09/2010

A Man Of Faith, Law and Politics

Most people don't know that Ravinder Bhalla, councilman-at-large on Hoboken's City Council, also holds another elected position in town. Bhalla is the Democratic Committee person in the third district of the second ward. All of Hoboken's six wards are composed of roughly six districts and every...more

11/12/2009

Sikh councilman inspired by Obama beat the odds in Hoboken

It was after Obama was elected the United States' first black President that Ravinder Singh Bhalla decided Hoboken was ready to elect its first Sikh councilman. "That election made me believe the country has reached a phase where qualifications matter more than race," said Bhalla, 36, who,...more